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Larissas Pregnant Again
***Offering a wide range of contraceptive methods is *e hey so successful family planning programmes says the State of Worfd Population Report, just published, from the United Nations Peculation Fund But. as Peter O'Neill learns from Larissa Verbitskaya, in the USSR there is a desperate lack of contraceptives And so. each year, some 12 million Soviet women have abortions
Larissa vrrbir»kHV* * story ia typical She « w« in a plain suburb tn the east of Moscow sharing a l wo-bed roomed flat with her husband and two daughters Galya. aged atx and Im. three
Qus lifted as a construction engineer Larissa lectures at an Institute in Moscow Her hus band works tn the same field Both are well aware of the importance of contraception
"I don't went to have any more children." says Larissa "But finding suitable contra ception ts a real problem' She feus that sterilization ia not an option for her at the moment — her children are still young and. at 33. so ia she
Orel contraceptive pills are not an option for Larissa either They have a bad reputa tlen throughout Eastern Europe and are believed to cause breast cancer and high blood pressure Thia ts partly due to the fact that the only pills available are the high dosage. high hormone variety long rejected on health grounds by women in the West The pills are Imported from Poland and Hungary
I did use oral contracep fives for four or five years." Larissa recalls. "But I did not feel good in myself The local doctor advised me to use an IUD. But I could not find one tn any of the pharmacies
Even if she had found one it would have been a poor quality, plastic model likely to cause infection.
It's not just contraceptives that are hard to find. Doctors who are prepared to even dis cuss different methods of contraception are few and far be tween.
"Usually, they don t like to waste time," says Larissa TIk-v only tell you — that and th«i' and that." Most often their ad vice is "use a condom"
The advice does not always help. Larissa explains: Last summer I had an enormous problem trying to find con doms in Moscow. And in the country village where we spent our summer holidays I • <>uM find no contraceptives al all'
At least Larissa and her husband are prepared to use condoms. Many soviet women and men will not even con sider them— partly due to their poor quality
Organisations like UNFPA IPPF and WHO. however, have been working together to Increase the supply to the USSR of high-quality contraceptives made tn Asia. But in the public mind condoms are still galoshes — clumsy and crude, thick, rubber appliances. Block market supplies of Western condoms exist — but they are prohibitively expen sire even for middle level educated Soviets Hke Larissa and her husband
For young people the strua Uon Is much worse According to a study conducted by social agist Dr Larlsaa Remenik up to two thirds of the 15 and 16 year olds In Leningrad have had sex. But they received vlr tually no sex education about personal relationships, contraception or venereal disease
As a result, young women arc most likely to resort to abortion. A young woman's first abortion may be one of many leading to chronic complications and infertility It can also ruing her sex life. According to Dr Archil Khomassurldze — a pioneer for the provision of free advice and modern contraception— 50 per cent of the women he sees have completely lost their sex drive due to the trauma of repeated abortions. Sex had become like a chore, like having to get down and scrub the floor Lorlsaa — and so many •*» her— want change They wont ■ex education at school and well organised family plannlrxl services
With only I 7 per cent of the Soviet Unton'* sexuaDy active population using any form of contraceptive — Including withdrawal or rhythm methods — the task of making family planning easily available to all Is going to be formidable
But the costs of not doing so will carry on being borne by women like Larissa who came back from her condom less holiday to find that she was pregnant again.
"We had tried to use the rhythm (calendar) method — but if failed. After a month back In Moscow the doctor said "You're five weeks pregnant.
You need an abortion " So I had one
—UNFPA